September 6, 2016 – Last week, Virginia Opera sent a press release inviting you to spend “A Sinful Night with Adam and Ute,” an evocative evening of cabaret fare reminiscent of the smoky, sultry performance style of Marlene Dietrich and Edith Piaf, with a one-night-only event in Norfolk and Richmond.
The Norfolk location has been moved from the previously announced location to the Grand Lobby of the Harrison Opera House on Wednesday, September 14 at 7:30pm. Ute Gfrerer, star of Virginia Opera’s upcoming statewide performances of The Seven Deadly Sins by Kurt Weill, will enthrall you with song while Virginia Opera’s Maestro Adam Turner partners with her at the piano, guiding you through a memorable evening. Works by Weill, Sondheim and Bernstein set the mood for the program, complete with intimate seating in performance spaces not usually utilized by Virginia Opera, offering patrons to this unique event a chance to get up close and personal with an opera singer, and experience the power of live performance in an intimate setting.
A star in her own right, and an internationally renowned Weill specialist, Ms. Gfrerer will make her American operatic stage debut with Virginia Opera, but already enjoys a prolific and successful career across Europe performing cabaret style. Says Ms. Gfrerer, “Cabaret is the ideal art form for me because I love the intimacy and the close contact with the audience. On a big theater stage you can’t see the faces of the people in the audience – in a cabaret setting I can even walk up to them, involve them, talk to them – there is no barrier between the performer and the audience.”
During the performance, Ms. Gfrerer notes her ability to “slip into different roles and personalities. While in an opera I play the same character all night long, in a cabaret I can show all the facets of life, I can be the vamp and the innocent girl waiting for her first love, I can be the murderess and the madam in a brothel, the waitress in a cafe or the daughter of the beggar king, the adulteress, and the goddess of love….you name it! Anything is possible! Each song is a different little world and I can use all my acting abilities to bring these songs to life!”
A native to Europe, Ms. Gfrerer has multi-lingual capability to “use my European background, and although I sing mostly in English, you will also hear songs in French and German. For this program I picked songs that have something to do with a sin – mainly the sins that are part of the seven deadly ones, like greed or lust, but also sins like killing somebody, lying or not honoring your parents! It is quite amazing how easy it was to find the right repertoire; there a so many songs that deal with the human imperfections!”
In closing, she remarks, “I promise it is going to be a very versatile and entertaining program with music by Kurt Weill (of course!), Sondheim, Bernstein, Blitzstein, Porter, F. Hollander and more.”
Virginia Opera’s Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor, Adam Turner, will join Ms. Gfrerer, accompanying her at the piano for the performances. Turner notes, “From the minute I first heard Ute’s glorious voice, I knew she was a unique talent that must be shared with Virginia Opera’s audiences! An Austrian-born soprano well-versed in the traditions of operatic singing, Ute has the rare ability to shape-shift through multiple genres of performance – opera, operetta, musical theater, and even cabaret recitals. Working frequently alongside world-renowned conductors (including HK Gruber, Ingo Metzmacher, and Nikolaus Harnoncourt), her international stage experiences include high-profile appearances with companies in Vienna, Zurich, Salzburg, Hamburg, and London. Considered one of the leading Weill interpreters, Ute’s upcoming performances with Virginia Opera should not be missed!”
“A Sinful Night with Adam and Ute” will be performed in Norfolk on Wednesday, September 14 in the Harrison Opera House Grand Lobby. This event was previously scheduled to be performed at the Hugh R. Copeland Center. Doors open at 6:30pm with hors d’oeuvres and cocktails available for purchase, and the program begins at 7:30pm. General admission tickets are just $25. Tickets are limited, so call early – you won’t want to miss this unique opportunity to experience the talent of Ute Gfrerer and Adam Turner. For tickets, please contact the Virginia Opera Box Office at 866.673.7282 or purchase online at vaopera.org.
Also, be sure to catch Adam Turner, inaugural recipient of the prestigious Julius Rudel/Kurt Weill Conducting Fellowship leading the Virginia Symphony Orchestra as Ms. Gfrerer stars in her American operatic stage debut as Anna in The Seven Deadly Sins on a landmark double-bill with Pagliacci. Performances will be featured across the state in September and October, 2016. For tickets, please contact the Virginia Opera Box Office at 866.673.7282 or purchase online at vaopera.org.
About Virginia Opera
Virginia Opera Association, Inc., performs at the Edythe C. and Stanley L. Harrison Opera House in Norfolk, Virginia, the Dominion Arts Center Carpenter Theatre in Richmond, Virginia and The Center for the Arts at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Now in its 42nd season, the company is known and respected nationwide for the identification and presentation of the finest young artists, for the musical and dramatic integrity of its productions, and for the ingenuity and variety of its education and outreach programs. Mainstage performances across the Commonwealth reach nearly 50,000 attendees annually. In March of 1994, by unanimous vote of the Virginia General Assembly, Virginia Opera was named The Official Opera Company of the Commonwealth of Virginia in recognition of the organization’s contribution to the state as well as to the world of opera. For more information, visit vaopera.org or call 866.673.7282.